Glastonbury Tor, Chalice Well and the Abbey: planning a first visit
Glastonbury is a small town carrying an unusually large amount of story. Arthurian legend, a ruined abbey that was once among the wealthiest in England, a holy well, a hill visible for twenty miles across the Levels, and a High Street where you can buy a crystal, a second-hand paperback and a very good coffee within about ninety seconds of each other.
All of which means a first visit benefits from a bit of order. Here is how we would spend a day — written from a cottage on Magdalene Street, which happens to sit a minute from the Abbey gates.
Start at Glastonbury Abbey
Begin here, and begin early. The Abbey's grounds are large, green and — before the middle of the day — remarkably quiet, and the ruins read better without a crowd in front of them. What survives is fragmentary but startling in scale: the Lady Chapel, the great arches of the choir, and enough of the outline to make the original footprint legible.
The site's association with King Arthur and Guinevere is medieval in origin and much argued over ever since, which does nothing to reduce its pull. There is also a museum, and the grounds include a fishpond and orchard that most visitors walk straight past.
Allow: an hour and a half, more if the weather is good and you want to sit. Check first: opening times and ticket prices vary by season — the Abbey publishes both on its own site.
Then the High Street
From the Abbey it is a short walk up into the town, and it is worth doing on foot rather than saving for later. Glastonbury High Street is genuinely unlike anywhere else in England: independent shops almost the whole way, a strong line in the esoteric, several very good places to eat, and a general absence of chains. Whether you come for the spiritual side of the town or find it entirely baffling, the street is a pleasure to wander.
This is the right moment for lunch, and the right moment to pick up anything you want for dinner if you are self-catering.
Chalice Well Gardens in the afternoon
Chalice Well sits at the foot of the Tor, on the far side of town from Magdalene Street — a walk of roughly ten minutes at an unhurried pace, mostly along Chilkwell Street. The gardens are small, deliberately calm, and terraced down a slope around a spring that has reportedly never run dry, its water stained a deep red by iron.
It is a place people either find profoundly moving or simply very pretty, and both are fine. The essential thing is not to rush it: the gardens reward sitting down, and there are benches and quiet corners arranged for exactly that.
Allow: an hour. Note: Chalice Well is a charitable trust with its own admission and opening hours, so check before you set off.
Finish on the Tor
Leave the Tor for last, and if you can, time it for late afternoon or the hour before sunset. It is the image everyone has of Glastonbury — a conical hill with a lone tower on top, the remains of St Michael's Church — and it earns its reputation the moment you get to the top.
From Magdalene Street it is roughly a fifteen minute walk to the base of the hill, and then the climb itself. Two routes go up: the path from Well House Lane is steeper and shorter, and the approach from Stone Down Lane is longer but gentler. Neither is difficult for anyone reasonably mobile, but both are proper hill walking rather than a stroll — sensible shoes, and take the gentler route if you would rather not scramble.
At the top the view opens over the Somerset Levels in every direction, flat and green and, in the right weather, laid out under a layer of mist that explains a great many of the legends about this place all at once. It is also extremely exposed. The wind on the Tor is a local institution; take a layer more than you think you need, even in July.
Allow: two hours from town and back, unhurried. Free to visit — the Tor is in the care of the National Trust, and there is no charge to climb it.
Where we'd stay: No. 48 Magdalene Street is a one-bedroom cottage in the middle of all this — a minute from the Abbey gates, a short stroll from the High Street, and a walk across town to the Well and the Tor. It sleeps two and pets are welcome.
If you have a second day
A day covers the big three comfortably. A second opens up the rest of the town and the country around it: the Somerset Rural Life Museum in the Abbey Barn, Wearyall Hill for the view back at the Tor, or the wetland reserves out on the Levels, which are extraordinary for birds. Wells — England's smallest city, with a cathedral out of all proportion to it — is under twenty minutes away. Our guide to Somerset day trips from Glastonbury has more.
Practical notes
- Walking distances. The Abbey and High Street are central. Chalice Well is about ten minutes' walk from Magdalene Street and the foot of the Tor about fifteen — perfectly walkable, but allow the time and expect a slope at the end of it.
- Weather. The Levels are flat and the Tor is not; it is always windier up there than in town. Waterproofs earn their place in a Somerset bag most months of the year.
- Parking. Limited at the Tor itself, which is a good argument for walking or for staying centrally.
- Dogs. Welcome on the Tor on a lead around livestock. Policies differ at the Abbey and Chalice Well, so check each before you go — our dog-friendly guide goes into this.
- Season. Spring and early autumn are the sweet spot: fewer people, softer light, and a good chance of mist over the Levels in the morning.
Do it in this order — Abbey, High Street, Chalice Well, Tor — and the day builds rather than peaks early. The tower at sunset is a much better ending than a beginning.